Em swedenborg-rational-psychology-being-part-seven-of-the-animal-kingdom-1742-norbert-h-rogers-alfred-acton-ssa-1950
1. RATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY
A POSTHUMOUS WORK
BY
EMANUEL SWEDENBORG
Translated from the Latin by
NORBERT H. ROGERS and ALFRED ACTON
and
Edited by ALPRED ACTON
Swedenborg Scientific Association
Philadelphia. Pa.
1950
2.
3. PRINTED IN UNITED STATES OF AMERICA BY
LANCASTER PRESS, INC., LANCASTER, PENN....
4. INTRODUCTION BY THE EDITOR
The MS., of which the present volume is a translation, was
written by Swedenborg in 1742. It is now preserved in the
Royal Academy of Sciences in Stockholm, in a bound volume
(Codex24) entitled by the binder Physiologica et M eta
physica. This volume consists of a Preface, 2 leaves unnum
bered j draft notes on the Fibre, 2 leaves also unnumbered;
the main work (without title), commencing with chapter XV
(leaves 1-117) j and Ontologia (leaves 118-26). The binding,
however, was done after Swedenborg's heirs had deposited
his MSS. in the Royal Academy, for, as will be noted later,
the two leaves on the Fibre have no proper place in the volume.
Nothing was known of the contents of Codex 54 until 1845,
when Dr. P. E. Svedbom, the learned Librarian of the Royal
Academy, gave a detailed description of them in a letter ad
dressed to the London Printing Society (Ec. An. King. Il,
Appendix) .
Three years later (1848) the Royal Academy graciously sent
the Codex to Dr. J. F. Im. Tafel who published the greater
part of it, namely, up to leaf 117, under the title Reg!E""!!'
Animale, Pars Septem,1 De Anima, Tubingae et Londini, 1849.
An English translation of Nos. 351-77,344-50 and 197-202 by
the Rev. J. H. Smithson was printed in the Intellectual Re
pository for 1849 and 1850. No further translation appeared
until 1887 when the New Church Board of Publications pub
lished an English translation of the whole work by the Rev.
Frank Se~all, then President of Urbana University, under
the title The Soul or Rational Psychology. A second printing
was made in 1900.
1 Dr. Tafel published Sweden The Five Senses; V. (Reserved for".. ".
borg's physiological works as con some unpublished work) ; VI. Gen .
tinuations of Parts I-Ill of the eration; VII. The Soul. See the
Animal Kingdom published by Preface to the latter work, p. vi.
Swedenborg himself, namely, iv.
111
5. INTRODUCTION BY THE EDITOR
The work was used as a textbook in the College of The
Academy of the New Church, and when it became out of
print, the need for a new edition was keenly felt-and not
only a new edition but also a new translation; for Dr. Sewall's
translation contained many inaccuracies due in part to a
faulty Latin text. I must add, however, that the present work
is indebted to the previous translation for many useful sug
gestions.
Therefore, in 1939 I asked the Rev. Norbert H. Rogers if he
would undertake to translate the work under my general super
vision. Mr. Rogers readily accepted, and during his years
as Assistant Pastor of the Carmel Church in Kitchener (1938
1943) and of the Bryn Athyn Church (1943-1946), and later
as Pastor of the Durban Society in South Africa, he trans
lated Nos. 15-280 inclusive. In 1949, however, being unable
to spare the time from his pastoral duties, Mr. Rogers was
forced to discontinue the work. I therefore took it up and
completed the translation.
During the whole course of the work by Mr. Rogers and my
self, the photostated manuscript was consulted in all cases
where the text seemed doubtful or obscure. This led to the
discovery of a number of errors in the printed Latin text.
These are noted in the Appendix to the present volume. The
Appendix also lists some variations between the numbering
of the present translation and Dr. Sewall's translation.
As noted above, Codex 54 co~~~with the four unnum
bered leaves containing the Preface and the Draft Notes on
the Fibre, after which comes "Chapter XV" on leaf 1, and so
on to leaf 117.
As to the leaves containing the Notes on the Fibre, [IX]
XIV, these Notes clearly show that they were not origi
nally a part of the volume. This is further confirmed by the
fact that the leaves are unnumbered, while all the other leaves
of the volume, except the Preface, are numbered. When the
Swedenborg MSS. were deposited with the Royal Academy by
the heirs, these two leaves were simply loose sheets, and they
iv
6. INTRODUCTION BY THE EDITOR
came later to be bound in with the volume because the last
entry on leaf 2 ends with "XIV. De tunica Arachnoides,"
while page 1 of the MS. commences with "Chapter XV."
Yet the reverse side of leaf 2 is blank, and this should have
shown that the two leaves have no proper place in the Codex,
to say nothing of the fact that their contents have no con
nection with the subj1ect of Chapter XV. These contents are
printed in the Appendix to the present volume, and there the
reader can see further particulars concerning them.
The MS. has no title, but the title "Rational Psychology"
is indicated with sufficient clearness by the reference in the
Preface to Transaction V as the immediately preceding Trans
action. In a sketch of the six proposed Transactions of the
Economy of the Animal Kingdom which Swede~horg wrote in
C;;d~36- (A Phil. Note Book;MS. pp. 262-63), Trans8..Qtion
Y is headed "Introduction to Rational Psychology." The
title of Transaction VI would therefore be "Rational Psy
chology." The title "The Soul" is hardly descriptive of the
work, for the soul is only one of the four general subjects
treated of, the others being, Sensation, the Animus, and the
Rational Mind.
In the sketch of the proposed Transactions just spoken of,
the contents of Transaction VI are given as follows:
1. The Body in General.
2. The Soul in General.
3. The Animal Spirit.
4. The Blood.
5. Sensation and Motion [Action].
6. Imagination and Memory.
7. The Rational Mind.
8. The Soul.
9. Concordance of Systems.
10. Death and Immortality.
11. The Soul after Death.
12. Heaven.
13. Divine Providence, Predestination, [etc.].
14. Appendix. Passions of the Animus.
v
7. INTRODUCTION BY THE EDITOR
The parts printed in bold type were an written by Sweden
borg as separate treatises 2 with the intention of printing them
from time to time under the general heading "Psychological
Transactions" (Psychol. Tr., p. 22). In this co-nrleetion, it
may be noted that the works on the Animal Spirit, Sensation
and Motion (Action) which are now bound with other MSS,
in Codex 74, were separate MSS. or one separate MS., when
deposited in the Royal Academy by Swedenborg's heirs (Doe.
cone. Swedenborg, Ill, 784).
There remains now the question, Why does Codex 54 begin
with Chapter XV? The answer is supplied by a cursory ex
amination of the work on Sensation just alluded to. This
work comprises Chapters I-XIV, each individual paragraph
therein being marked as a chapter usually with a long head
ing. The Rational Psychology commences with Chapter XV,
and here also, with hardly an exception, each paragraph-from
Chapter XV to Chapter LXVII-is marked as a chapter
with a long heading. Moreover, the opening paragraph of
the work is a direct continuation of the work on Sensation.
There can be no doubt, therefore, that, while Swedenborg wrote
the work on Sensation with the intention of publishing it as a
separate "Transaction," when he undertook the Rational Psy
chology, he decided to commence it with what he had already
written on Sensation.
As just stated, the work on Sensation comprises Chapters
I-XIV, but the last chapter consist; of nothing but the bare
~g "Chapter XIV." It would seem, therefore, that when
Swedenborg commenced the Rational Psychology with Chap
ter XV, he either intended to fill in Chapter XIV, or, what,
from the continuity of the subject, seems more probable, he
forgot that Chapter XIV had been left unwritten.
In the translation, the chapter headings have been incorpo
rated in italics as parts of the paragraphs that follow them,
and the chapter numbering I-LXVII has been changed to
paragraph numbers. This numeration has been continued to
'An English translation of these logical Transactions pp. 75 seq., 95
treatises may be seen in Psycho- seq., 145 seq., 117 seq., and 21 seq.
VI
8. INTRODUCTION BY THE EDITOR
the end of the work, though in the MS, after Chapter LXVII,
neither chapters nor paragraphs are numbered.
I would add a word of gratitude to my niece and secretary,
Miss Beryl G. Briscoe, for her careful and laborious work in
the preparation of the MS. and the seeing of it through the
press.
And now to the work itself.
ALFRED ACToN
BRYN ATHYN, PENNSYLVANIA
November 1949
vii
9.
10. TABLE OF CONTENTS
Nos.
PREFACE
I SENSATION OR THE PASSION OF THE BODy . 1
II TOUCH 35
III TASTE 39
IV SMELL 43
V HEARING 49
VI SIGHT 68
VII PERCEPTION, IMAGINATION, MEMORY, AND
THEIR IDEAS 91
VIII THE PuRE INTELLECT 123
IX THE HUMAN INTELLECT: Intellection, Thought,
Reasoning, and Judgment 140
X THE COMMERCE OF SOUL AND BODY 159
XI HARMONIES AND THE AFFECTIONS ARISING
THEREFROM. DESIRES IN GENERAL 175
XII THE ANIMUS AND ITS AFFECTIONS 197
Gladness 201
Sadness 202
Loves in General 203
Venereal Love 204
Hatred and Loathing of Venery 206
Conjugial Love 207
Conjugial Hatred 208
Love of Parents toward Their Children, or Storge 209
Love of Society and Country 210
Love toward Companions and Friendship 213
Hatred 214
Love of Self, Ambition, Pride, Arrogance 215
Humility, Contempt [of Self), Depression
of Animus ............•................... 219
IX
11. TABLE OF CONTENTS
Hope* and Despair .... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 223
Love of the Immortality of Fame after Death. . .. 225
Generosity, Magnanimity. What the Loves of the
World and the Body are 227
Pusillanimity and Folly 232
.Avarice* 233
Prodigality, Liberality, Contempt of Wealth 237
Compassion, Charity 238
Fear and Dread 241
Courage, Fearlessness, Impetuosity 246
Indignation, t Anger, Fury, Zeal 252
Patience, Meekness, Tranquillity of Animus,
Impatience 257
Shame 262
Envy 267
Revenge 270
Misanthropy, Love of Solitude '" 273
Cruelty 276
Clemency 279
Intemperance, Luxury 280
Temperance, Parsimony, Frugality 281
XIII THE ANIMUS AND THE RATIONAL MIND ••...•.... 282
XIV THE FORMATION AND AFFECTIONS OF THE
RATIONAL MIND ............•..............•. 298
XV THE LoVES AND AFFECTIONS OF THE MIND) ....•• 315
Love of Understanding and Being Wise 318
Love of Knowing Things Hidden; Wonder 319
Love of Foreknowing the Future 321
Love of Truths and Principles 322
Love of Good and Evil 324
The Affirmative and Negative 326
Conscience 328
The Highest Good and Highest Truth 329
Love of Virtues and Vices; Honor, Decorum 333
XVI CONCLUSION AS TO WHAT THE ANIMUS IS, WHAT THE
SPIRITUAL MIND AND WHAT THE RATIONAL MIND 340
.. Hope and avarice are not affections of the animus; see nos. 223
and 234.
t Indignation is a.n affection of the ra.tional mind; see n. 256.
x
12. TABLE OF CONTENTS
XVII FREE DECISION, OR THE CHOICE OF MORAL
GOOD AND EVIL 351
XVIII THE WILL AND ITS LIBERTY, AND WHAT THE
INTELLECT IS IN RELATION THERETO 378
XIX DISCOURSE ............................••...... 401
XX HUMAN PRUDENCE ' 405
XXI SIMULATION AND DISSIMULATION 408
XXII CUNNING AND MALICE ...........•............. 412
XXIII SINCERITY .... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 414
XXIV JUSTICE AND EQUITY .................•...... , 415
XXV SCIENCE, INTELLIGENCE, WISDOM 419
XXVI THE CAUSES WHICH CHANGE THE STATE OF THE
INTELLECT AND RATIONAL MIND, THAT IS, PERVERT
OR PERFECT IT 422
XXVII LoVEs OF THE SOUL OR SPIRITUAL LoVES . . . . . . . . . .. 429
The Love of a Being Above Oneself 432
The Love of a Comrade as Oneself . . . . . . .. 434
Loving Society as Being Many Selves 438
The Love of Being Close to the One Loved 440
The Love of Surpassing in Felicity, Power,
and Wisdom 442
The Love of Propagating Heavenly Society by
Natural Means 447
The Love of One's Body ....................• 449
The Love of Immortality 451
Spiritual Zeal 453
The Love of Propagating the Kingdom and
City of God 455
XXVIII THE DERIVATION OF CORPOREAL LOVES FROM SPIRIT-
UAL, AND THEIR CONCENTRATION IN THE RA-
TIONAL MIND . . . . . . .. 457
XXIX PURE OR DIVINE LOVE REGARDED IN ITSELF . . . . . . .. 460
XXX THE INFLUX OF THE ANIMUS AND ITs AFFECTIONS
INTO THE BODY, AND OF THE BODY INTO THE
ANIMUS 462
xi
13. TABLE OF CONTENTS
XXXI THE INFLUX OF THE RATIONAL MIND INTO THE
ANIMUS, AND BY THE ANIMUS INTO THE BODY;
AND THE INFLUX OF THE ANIMUS INTO THE RA
TIONAL MIND •...•...•........••..•.•..•••..• 470
XXXII THE INFLUX OF THE SPIRITUAL MIND OR Soul: INTO
THE ANIMUS,";moo;-THE ANIM-;SINTO THE
SPIRITUAL MIND ••.•.•.....•.•.........•...•. 473
XXXIU THE INFLUX OF THE SPIRITUAL LOVES OF THE SOUL
INTO THE RATIONAL MIND, AND THE REVERSE ••. 476
XXXIV [INHERITED CHARACTERISTICS] ....•••••.•..•...• 477
Inclination 477
Temperaments 482
XXXV DEATH ..••••••...•.•••.•...••••....•••••....• 486
XXXVI THE IMMORTALITY OF THE SOUL . . . . . . • . . . • . . . . . . 498
XXXVII THE STATE OF THE SOUL AFTER THE DEATH
OF THE BODY ••••..•.•..••••...••.•.••..•.••• 511
XXXVIII IlEAVEN OR THE SOCIETY OF HAPPY SOULS .••••.•• 533
XXXIX HELL, OR THE SOCIETY OF UNHAPPY SOULS ....•.• 543
XL DIVINE PROVIDENCE .••••...••.......•..•....•.. 549
XLI FATE, FORTUNE, PREDESTINATION, HUMAN PRUDENCE
[title only] 561
XLII A UNIVERSAL MATHESIS • . . . • . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . • 562
ApPENDIX
The first three pages of Codex 54
Key to paragraph numbers
Corrections of Latin Text.
INDEX
XlI
14. RATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY
Preface
I haye undertaken to search out with all possible zeal what
the souQs, what t~ b_ody, and what the intercourse between
them, and also what the state of the soul is when in the body,
and what her state after the life of the body. But, desiring
the end, it devolved on me to desire also the means; and,
when thinking intently concerning the path to be pursued,
where to begin, and, consequently,on what course to ri:i~as
to a goal, I finally discerned that no other course lay open
save that which leads through th~ anatomy of the soul's or
ganic body, it being there that she carries on her sports and
completes her course. She is to be sought solely in the abid
ing place and lodgment where she js, that is to say, in her
own field of action. It was for this reason that I first of all
treated of the blood and the heart, and also of the cortical
substance, and, furthermore," am to treat of "its '[i. e., the
body's] several organs and viscera, and then of the cerebrum,
cerebellum, and medullas oblongata and spinalis. l Thus
'As indicated later on in his Transactions are to treat of the
Preface, Swedenborg wrote the organs of the body. The present
Rational Psychology as the sixth of text, however, intimates that these
his "Transactions" entitled Econ organs are to be treated of in
omy of the Animal Kingdom. Transaction Ill, changing Trans
Transaction I on the Blood and action III as originally planned to
the Heart, and Transaction II on Transaction IV, and so on.
the Cortical Substance, he had al Here we have the first intima
ready published. In Codex 36 tion that Swedenborg contemplat
(A Phil. Note Book), pp. 262--63 ed changing the plan of the series
and 268, he gives the contents of of works which were to culminate
the remaining Transactions as fol in the Rational Psychology. At
lows: Ill. The Cerebrum; IV. The first he intended to approach the
Cerebellum and Medullas; V. In soul merely by an examination of
troduction to Rational Psychol the brain and medullas, and the
ogy; VI. Rational Psychology. laying down of certain new doc
There is no hint that any of these trines. It was in pursuance of this
1
15. RATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY
armed, I am in the way of making further progress. I have
pursued'this anatomy solely for the purpose of searching out
the soul. If I should thereby have supplied anything of use
to the anatomical and medical world, it would give me pleas
) ure, but the pleasure would be greater if I should have thrown
light on the s~!,ch for the soul. The body, especially the
human body with its several organs and members, is so marvel
ously woven that here Nature has gathered together and
poured forth the whole of her art and science with all that
lies inmostly within. Therefore, if one is intent on searching
out Nature in her supreme and inmost recesses, he must run
r through these several organs and members; and the longer
he dwells on them, the more numerous are the marvels and
I the hidden mysteries that are brought to light; and though
thrice the age of Nestor were his, yet other mysteries remain
to be brought to the light of day. Nature is an abyss, as it
were, and nought remains but amaze1!!-e1}t.
Therefore, that I may explore the soul, it is necessary that
I unfold those manifold coverings which remove her from our
eyes as though she dwelt in some center. I must proceed by
the analytic way, or through experience to causes, and then
through causes to principles; that is to say, from posterior
-. things t.2-prior. Such is the only way to the knowledgeof
things superior that is granted us. And when by this way
we have been raised up to genuine principles, then first is it
permitted us to proceed by the synthetic way, that is to say,
from the prior to things posterior. This is the way of the
soul in her action upon her body. It is the angelic way; for
then, from the prior, or from things first, men see all-posterior
plan that he had treated of the Soul It was perhaps at this time that
in the second volume of the Econ he began to drnit a new series of
omy of the Ani m a l Kingdom. works to be comprised in four
Later, he confesses that he had "Tomes," as follows: 1. The Or
proceeded too hastily CAn. Kino. gans of the Body, including Gen
19). And now he sees that he eration; ll. The Brain; Ill. Intro
must first take up the anatomy duction to Rational Psychology;
of the whole body; he had already, IV. Rational Psychology CA Phil.
as it seems, written the work on N. B. MS., pp. 253--55, 265).
Generation CPsychol. TT., p. 69).
2
16. PREFACE
things as beneath them. Therefore, before it is permitted us
to speak of the soul a priori from principles, that is to say,
synthetically, we must strive upward by this human analytic
way by means of posterior thing;,-experience, and effects; in
other words, we must strive upward by the ladder which leads
us to those principles or that heaven. To climb up to the
soul is not possible save by way of her organs whereby she
I descends into her body; thus, solely by the anatomy of her
body.
To ascend from the organic and material body all the way
to the soul, that is, to a spiritual essence which is also imma
terial, was not permissible unless first I cleared the way that
r would lead me thither. It behooved me to elaborate certain
, new doctrines hitherto unknown, that they may be compan
I ions and guides without whom we can never attempt this pas
- - -
sage, to wit, the doctrine of forms, the doctrine of order and
degrees, then the doctrine of correspondences and representa
tions, and finally the doctrine of modifications. These doc
trines are treated of in the Fifth Transaction, being our In
troduction to Rational Psyehology.2 - ~
Thus, at last it is now permitted us to treat of the soul from
J>rinciples or synthetically. From the first age even to the
', present day -Whentl'i"einfant that has been conceived is to
be brought forth and born, the learned world has awaited this
1 moment, ~hen we may ascend upward to genuine principles.
For this re~n are all the sciences, both philosophical and
I
physical; for this reason is all the experience that may give
light; to this point has the entire learned world directed itself,
to wit, that it may be able to speak from genuine principles,
and to treat of posterior things synthetically. Of this nature
is angelic perfection; of this nature is that science whichis
h_e~venly and which is the first natural science. Thi_s, mo!~
over, is the nature of our connate ambition-the ambitiQn,
"According to the plan referred noid, the Doctrines of Order and
to in the preceding footnote, Degrees, of Fonns, of Correspond
Transaction V was to treat of the ences and Representations, of
Cortica}-'and Medullary Sub Modifications, and finally Ontol
stance of the Brain, the Arach- ogy (C~~ p. 263).
3
17. RATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY
namely, that we strive upward to the integrity of our first
parent, who determined all posterior things a priori and- th'us,
not only saw the whole of nature as beneath him, but also
commanded it as his subject; for tQ. judge effects from princi
ples is the highest point of learning. Hence it is clear how
import!lon~ it is that -;re s..frlv~ after true principl~s; and this
never can be done save by the posterior way, being the way
of the senses, of experience, of the sciences, and of the arts.
These are human in that they must be learned. They are not
of the soul for, in her, such sciences are implanted and flow
forth of themselves.
The path on which to strive upward from experience through
the sciences, comprising all the sciences, physical and philo
sophical, to things prior and to very principles, is not only
steep but is also extremely wide, requiring us to run; not
through a single field, but through many. Many of Nestor's
ages are needed; ~r w~per.petually come across things that
( confuse the mind, and persuade it to perceive them as pre
) sented by the senses. The mind then believes that it has hIt
) the nail on the head because it speaks in accordance with
(sensation-which is the reason why there are so many hy
potheses and errors. Indeed, superior nature is such that it is
the more hidden from our senses in the degree that we con
sult those senses; the mind then becomes more darkened, the
more it is confused by the greater abundance of the rays.
The senses are like so many black shades, and as we plunge
) into these shades, the quasi-light of sight and imagination
seems to take flight; and they become more clear, as it were,
1 the more we are able to disperse these rays. It is as though
there were another sphere of light. The light of intelligence
and the light of sight mutually extinguish each other. There
fore, for the most part, we do not love ~~ght of wisdom
because it obscures the light of imagination, according to the
wor<!~ 9f Plato: 3 ["Often when my soul, le~~hig the body,
• In the MS., the word Plato is There can be no doubt but that
followed by a blank which the the intended quotation is that
Author intended to fill in later. which we have here supplied from
4
18. PREFACE
has been in contemplation, I seemed to enjoy the highest good,
and this with incredible pleasure. Therefore, I was in a man
ner struck with astonishment, perceiving that I was a part
of a superior world, and feeling myself to be endowed with
immortality under the highest degree· of light; which percep
tion can neither be expressed in speech nor perceived by ears
nor comprehended in thought. Finally, wearied with this con
templation, the intellect fell back into fantasy, and then, with
the ceasing of that light, I became sad. Once again, leaving
the body and returning to that world, I perceived the soul
abounding in light, and this light then flowing into the body,
and afterward raised up above the latter. Thus speaks Plato."
(Aristotle, Div. Sap. secundum Aegyptos, L: I, c: iv.)]
f For this reason I have labored with most intense zeal t~~t
from the one light I l12ighi p~jnto the other. Wherefore,
( kind reader, if you will deign to follow me thither, I believe
1 that you will apprehend what the soul is, what its intercourse
) with the body, and what its state in the body and after the
I. life of the body. But the way is steep. I would wish that
my companions do not abandon me in the middle of my
course; but if you do abandon me, I yet pray that you show
me favor. And you will show me favor if you have the will
to be persuaded that my end is God's glory and thepUbi1c
gain, and not in the least my own profit or prai~ -
one of Swedenborg'B N otebookB, title A Philosopher's Note Book.
published in E;;glish~he See that work, p. 178.
5
19. I
Sensation or the Passion of the Body
-
1. That sensations are external and internal. The external /
senses are touch, taste, smell,hearing, and sight; these are
also called the bodily senses. Internal sensation is spoken of
as the perception or apperception of the things that flow in
from the organs of the external senses. Inmost sensation '3
is intellection; for the things which are sen~ted and per
ceived must also be rationally understood. But the inmost
of all, or the principle of sensations, belongs to the soul a~d
is called pure intellection or intelligence; for our ability to
sensate, perceive,· understand, belongs tothe soul alone. Just
as sensations are external and internal, so also are the organs
of sensations. The organ of touch is the external surface of
the whole body; the organ of taste is the tongue; [the organ]
of smell is the membrane of the nostrils and their cavities; the
organ of hearing is the ear, and of sight the eye. The organ
of perception is the cortical cerebrum, or the cortical sub
stance of the cerebrum. The organ of intellection or of in
most sensation is the purest cortex, or that simple cort~x w_hich
is contained in each cortical gland. These organs, both the
internal and the external, are called sensories, the cerebrum
being the common sensory of all the external sensories.
2. That external sensations communicate with internal /
sensations, or t"";;-external sensories with the interior sensories, 2
and with the inmost, by means of fibers. Everyone who is 3
imbued with the first rudiments of anatomy knows that ex
ternal sensations communicate with internal by means of
fibers. For, from every point of the cuticle, there issues a
fiber which runs toward the medulla spinalis or oblongata,
this being the reason why such fibers are called ~ry and
are distinguished from motory fibers; from every point of the
tongue, a fiber of the ninth, eighth, and fifth pair of the head;
from the nostrils, fibers run through the cribriform plate into
6
20. SENSATION OR THE PASSION OF THE BODY 2-4
the mammillary processes which are affixed to the anterior
surface of the cerebrum like two bottles; from the ear, a fiber
of the seventh pair, both hard and soft; and from the eye
proceeds the great optic nerve. These fibers run on until
they reach their beginnings, that is, the cortical glands. -In
these beginnings or glands resides all internal sensatioii., this
being dependent on their change of state. From this gland
again, are extended simple fibers reaching to a purer cortex,
which we call the simple cortex, whence comes the intellec
tion of the things apperceived and sensated. Thus by means
of fibers there is a continual communication of external and
internal sensations. This also is the reason why a sense
, straightway languishes or dies away, as soon as the inter
') mediary nerve is cut, torn away, or obstructed-as is clearly
apparent from the innumerable effects of diseases.
3. That no sensation is possible without a suitable organic
substance. Sight can by no means exist without the eye,
hearing without the ear, taste without the tongue, smell with
out the pituitary membrane. And in like manner as the ex
ternal senses cannot exist without a suitable organic substance,
that is, without organs, so neither can the internal senses. The
organic substance of perception is the cortical gland, and that
of intellection is tlle simple cortex-as pointed out above
[no 2]. It is altogether repugnant to nature that anything
sensitive and intellectual can have existence apart from a
( suitable substance; for ~sat~?s are~erelyJorces and E10~
? fications going forth from the substances acted upon. For
1 this reason, the soul is the onlysentient and intelligent sub
stance in its body.
4. That the sensation is such as the organic substance is;
and the organic substance, such as the sensation. That is
to say, as the hearing is, such is the ear, and as the sight, such
the eye; and also the reverse, namely, as the ear is, such is
the hearing, and as the eye, such the sight. So also in the
other senses. Thus, in the interiorseilSes, as perception and
imagination are, such is the cortical gland, which may be
termed the internal eyelet or eye; and, as the intellection is,
such is the simple cortex; and the reverse. Therefore, every
7
21. 4--6 RATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY
sensation conforms itself to the state of its sensory; for if
sensation is a sensation of its organ, necessity requires that
itbe according t'() the state of its organ.
5. That exJernal sensatjon is according to the nature of
its communication with the internal sensory. It is not the
organ of external sensation that sensates, but only the soul,
since the soul understands the nature of the sensation. Con
sequently, the organ of the external sense is nothing more
than an instrument receiving the first impulses and contacts,
that is, the forces that come to it. Therefore, when the eye
is closed and the ear at rest, as during sleep, we still seem
to see and hear; and when, in the brain, the faculty of per
ception is lost, the external organs are straightway deprived
of their sensation-though not the reverse. From this cause
it is that our sensations become dull or acute, or obscure, or
distinct. That the sense itself varies according to the changed
state of the brain, is apparent from diseases of the head. For
the fiber is either relaxed, as in sleep, or is tensed and elevated
and rendered distinct for the reception of the sensation, as
in wakefulness; or it is inflamed and heated, or affected in
other ways; and according to the state thus induced on the
fibers, or into which the fibers are reduced, so the sense itself
is at once varied.
6. As the form of the organ is, such is the form of the sen
sation. If the organ be a substance, and the sensation a
modification, and if no sensation be possible without an or
ganic form, it follows that the substantial form, or that of
the sensory, must coincide with the form of the modification
or that of the sensation. Form can be predicated both of
substance and of forces and modifications; for form is con
stituted of essential determinations, and these determinations
cannot be conceived of without an idea of the co-existence or
fluxion of individuals. If these latter are acted upon, there
results a form of modification which must needs be like the
form of the substances which are in determinate fluxion.
Therefore, as the form of the eye is, such is the sight; as the
form of the ear, such the hearing; and also as the form of the
cortical gland, such is the perception and imagination, and
8
22. SENSATION OR THE PASSION OF THE BODY 6-8
so forth. Thus, when the organ is changed, the sense which
results therefrom is changed conformably. But as to the
nature of the form of each organ and of the sensation result
ing therefrom, to inquire into this is too long an undertaking.
The form of the eye and of sight is more perfect than the form
of the ear and hearing; while the form of the cortical gland,
that is, of the internal sight is more perfect than the form
of the eye, that is, of the external sight. Thus perfections
of organic forms increase and are elevated by degrees even
to the soul itself, which is the form of forms of its body, or
the informer of them all. These more perfect forms are also
called superior, prior, simpler, and more internal.
7. That intemal sensation can exist and live without ex
ternal sensation, but not the reverse. When the brain is un
injured, internal sensation, that is to say, perception and in
tellection, or imagination and thought, continue in their vigor,
howsoever the organs of the external senses may labor under
sickness; those who are deaf and blind are still able to reason
and think. But as soon as the common sensory or the brain
labors, the external organs are deprived of their faculty of
sensating. Therefore, the latter depend on the former, but
not the reverse. Hence it follows:
8. That it is the soul alone which sensates, perceives, un
derstands. The soul is the pure intelligence and the life of our
body to which, as to their center, are referred an the things
carried on in the peripheries; but organic substances or sensa
tions are subordinated to it. The first sensation after the soul,
is intellection or rational understanding, which is a mixed
intelligence. Under this comes perception. To this are sub
jected the five powers of sensation enumerated above, namely,
sight, hearing, taste, smell, and touch, which are the outer
most sensations and belong to the body; of these, however,
one is nearer to the soul than another. Thus the soul is ap
proached only by.-!!egrees,! or by a ladder, as it were. If any
intermediate sensation is weakened or destroyed, the approach
1 The Latin word for degree a stairway or ladder.
(gTad'U8) means also the steps of
9
23. 8-9 RATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY
to the soul is in like manner impeded or broken-the soul
meanwhile remaining in its own center and intelligence with
out communication with the body. For example, hearing is
not possible without a certain internal sight almost like that
of the eye; nor is this possible without an inmost sight, that
, is, without thought; and this, since it is a mixed intelligence,
is not possible without a pure intelligence. The existence
of a mixed intelligence necessarily requires that there be,
above it, a pure intelligence. The consequence is that there
can be no sensation without th;soo~ which is the ocly sub
stance in the body that sensates since it is the only substance
that purely understands what is sensated.
9. That aU sensation, both external and internal, is passion;
consequently, that the soul, when it sensates, is passive. For
the eye to see, it is necessary that something flow into it that
can be apprehended by the sight, namely, the appearances,
combined colorings and modifications of shade and light which
are set before it. For the ear to hear, it is necessary that
sound impinge upon the tympanum and fenestrae of the ear.
For the tongue to taste, there must be sharp-pointed, saline,
and other particles which shall strike the papillae of the
tongue; and so likewise for the nostrils to smell. Therefore,
every sensation is effected by touches. In the eye and ear,
these are more subtle, being merely the touches of forces and
their forms; but in the tongue and nose, they are compara
tively heavy and gross; and in the skin, cuticles, and mem
branes, the sense whereof is caUed touch proper, they are
heaviest of all. In this way, without touch there exists no
sensation, which latter is produced according to every form
of touch or of tactile objects. Thus sensation is not an action
but a passion. Interior sensation, or first perception, is also
a passion, but more perfect and pure; for the internal sensory
perceives only what comes to it from the external sensories,
and the nature of its perception is according to the nature of
the images and ideas that flow in. So likewise intellection
or inmost sensation, which depends upon perception just as
perception depends upon sensation. In this way, approach
is made to the soul, which alone sensates because it alone
10
24. SENSATION OR THE PASSION OF THE BODY 9-12
understands. Consequently, the soul, when it sensates, is pas
sive; which is the reason why it is delighted with things har
monious, and saddened by things inharmonious.
10. That modifications of the air and ether in the world
correspond to hearing and sight in the animate body; and
that these modifications immediately live, as it were, and be
come sensations as soon as they come in contact with a sensory
organ conformable to themselves. As are the modifications
of the air, such also are those of the ear, that is, melodies,
sounds, harmonies; and, as are the modifications of the ether,
such are the images of sight. Outside the animate body,
modifications are inanimate and dead, but as soon as they
come in contact with that body, they are transformed into
sensations. This is the reason why sensations are generally
called modifications, and why the organs are said to be mod
ified; for at their first approach, contact, or affiatus, these
modifications partake of the life of the soul which sensates
the nature of the modification and what it represents. And
since the organ must be modified in order that it may sensate,
therefore it is passive not active; that is, sensation is a pas
sion and not an action.
11. That ideas of the memory are modifications of like
kind as are images of the sight, but so impressed as to present
themselves before the imagination and thought, like external
appearances before the sight. The memory is the field of
images spread before the _internal sense-and which, being
then living, are called ideas-just as the visible world is spread
before the external sense or the sight; for they present them
selves before the imagination and thought in similar appear
ances. By reason of this, the internal sense also must be said
to be passive; though strictly speaking, it is passive only
when modifications are being insinuated immediately through
the outermost doors or those of the external senses.
12. That by sensations, the soul desires to know what is
going on in the world below her, into which, when forming her
body with its sensory and motory organs, she, as it were,
descends. The soul, which is a spiritual and celestial form,
cannot be rendered participant and skilled in effects and
11
25. 12-13 RATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY
phenomena which are carried on in a world situated so far
and so deeply below herself, except by means of organs which
shall be entirely conformable to the forces of her nature, and
unless there be a ladder, consisting of organs and sensations,
whereby she can descend and ascend from things above to
things below, and the reverse. It is for this end that the or
ganic body has been formed. The ladder itself is distin
guished into such steps or degrees that it can be let down
successively from the one region into the other. By this ar
rangement nothing whatever can happen in which the soul
does not share. Every sensation from the lowest world is
lifted up to her as to a certain heaven, and every action passes
down from her, as from a heaven, to the lowest world. There
fore, not that which enters in is important to her wen-being,
but that which goes out; that is, not sensation, cupidity, de
sires, but actions and effects: By touch, the soul sensates
whatever assails [the body] in a general way; by taste, what
ever is floating in waters and liquids; by smell, whatever is
floating in the atmosphere; by hearing, all the modifications
of this same atmosphere; by sight, similar modifications of
the ether apd all the beauty that the earth brings forth; by
the inmost sense, whatever is carried on in the superior world
and in the region of causes and principles; and so forth.
13. That the organs of the external senses are most skill
fully constructed in accordance with every form of the cor
responding forces and modifications. The eye is constructed
in entire accordance with the modification of the ether; the
ear, with the modification of the air; the tongue, with the
figures of angular forms; and so likewise the membrane of
the nostrils. As to whether the cortical gland is fabricated
in accordance with the form of the modifications of a superior
ether, this also can be inferred from divers phenomena. To
take only one or two specific examples. The ear is so fur
nished with tympanum, fenestrae, cylinders, cochlea, malleus,
and other instruments, that it is a most perfect exemplar of
the acoustic art. In like manner, the eye, so that, as the
exemplar of its orbit, it represents an optical organ of such
surpassing excellence that it is framed in accordance with
12
26. SENSATION OR THE PASSION OF THE BODY 13-15
every nature of the influx of the rays of the sun. So also
in the other senses, wherein the inmost arcana of nature lie
concealed and represented. The consequence is that the soul,
which is the formative substance and force of her body, has
deep intuition and cognizance of nature, and, entering into
her, forms instruments which have not the least discrepancy
with the order and form of her fluxion. For the soul is, as it
were, above nature; and hence, in her own little world, is the
science, art, order, and law of the things below her. Where-
fore, in acting from science, art, order, and law, she acts
from herself.
14.2 • • • •
15. That the external organs of sense, such as the ear and
the eye, are instruments of the modifications of the air and
ether,. and that these modifications are principal causes to
which, by the mediation of organs, sensations exactly corre-
spond. As regards the ear, this is an instrument receptive
of the air's modulations, in that it receives and applies to
itself every form and mode of its inflowing forces. So like-
wise the eye in respect to the ether. The ear does not differ
from a musical or acoustical instrument, in that, according
as it receives sounds, so in like manner it sends them forth
and promotes them onward. In the same way, the eye does
not differ from optical instruments, the eye being a kind of
camera obscura which exactly represents on its other side
the images transmitted to it, but without changing them into
other appearances or other colors. But modifications do not
merely pass over to the retina, they also arouse the essential
determinations of the eye's structure to act in like manner,
and this even as regards the least part of the retina; and from
this retina, by means of the optic nerve, the object of the
sight is transferred to the common sensory. In this way sen-
sations are in exact correspondence with modifications. It
is the same with taste and smell; for the external form of the
parts, which is generally either round or pointed, affects the
papiUae of the tongue or of the nostrils, and by their little
• See Introduction, p. vi.
13
27. 15-17 RATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY
touches which are innumerable, the organ is affected, whence
results a corresponding sensation.
16. That the sensory fibers leading to the common sens01'y
are exactly accommodated to the form of the modifications
that approach them and affect them. Thus, by means of
fibers, sensations flow by natural spontaneity from the cir
cumfluent world into the animate world even to the soul. The
question is asked: What is the nature of the form of the mod
ifications of air, and of those of ether? Under the guidance
of experience, it is clear that the forms of a modification can
be no other than the forms of the parts. For a volume is
composed of its parts, and if these parts are modifiable, the
resulting modification in the whole of the volume acted upon
must be the same as in the individual parts, these parts being
so many symbols of the general motion. The form of the
modifications of the ether is spiral or perpetuo-circular, and
the form of the modifications of the air is simply circular, such
being the external forms of their parts, as can be demonstrated
by an infinitude of proofs.
The question then arises: What is the nature of the form
of the fluxions of fibers? In the Transaction on the Fibre
[nos. 274-75], it was shown that the form of the fluxion of
every compound fiber is spiral, while the form of the fluxion
of many [such] fibers taken together is circular. Thus the
one form exactly corresponds to the modification of the ether,
while the other corresponds to the modification of the air.
The form of the superior ether is vortical, and this corresponds
to the substantial form of a spiral gland. When, therefore,
modifications of auras flow into the little animal world or
system, they continue the flow with a like nature, and make
no change in their essential determinations.
17. That sensations are carried from external organs to
internal organs, as from a heavier atmosphere to a lighter, or
from a lower region to a higher. Light bodies rise from center
to surface where they emerge, while heavy bodies sink to the
center and seek the bottom. So sensations strive upward
from outmost things to inmost, or from the lowest to the high
est, while actions descend from inmost things to outmost, or
14
28. SENSATION OR THE PASSION OF THE BODY 17-18
from the highest to the lowest. Sensations, therefore, can be
compared to light bodies, and actions to heavy. In the body,
the cortical cerebrum occupies the highest and inmost region,
for to pursue the way thither is an upward progress, while to
go from thence to the surface of the body is a downward.
That the cortex of the cerebrum occupies also the lightest
region of the body, can be seen from the very fibers and their
nature. In the neighborhood of the cortex, that is to say, at
their first origin, fibers are supremely fluid and soft, but when
remote from the cortex, they are harder and less active, being
as though more compressed. Therefore, when sensations rise
to a softer fiber, they rise to a purer region, and vice versa.
This, moreover, is the reason why sensory or nervous fibers
are soft-the softness increasing according to the ascent
while motory fibers are somewhat hard.
18. That sensations do not ascend to any special glands
or glandular congeries in the cerebrum, but to the entire cortex,
so that there is no cortical gland in the whole cerebrum that
does not become participant in every sensation and in its least
moment, degree, and difference. The anatomy of the brain
declares this quite plainly, for every single nerve and fiber,
when immersed in the medullary lake of the cerebrum, so
intermingles itself with all its neighbors that distinctions al
most disappear, one plexus communicating continuously with
another. Between the fibers, and between each vessel and its
neighbor, there is a delicate membrane which joins fiber to
fiber and artery to artery, and binds them together. In the
treatise on The Fibre [nos. 170-80], we call these intervening
threads vessels emulous of the fiber, and in these vessels are
woven most highly delicate threads drawn from the pia mater.
Thus it can be seen that, in the cerebrum, cerebellum, and
both medullas, there is nothing wholly discontinuous or dis
connected. A sensation, being a most subtle kind of tremi
8cence of some atmosphere, cannot follow up a single fiber or
some set of fibers to the origin thereof without necessarily
taking its course through all that is continuous with the fibers,
just as in the case of the tremulations and vibrations of hard
bodies. The same conclusion becomes evident from a par
15
29. 18-19 RATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY
ticular examination of each sensory fiber. The optic nerve,
spreading out into the optic thalami, must needs pour itself
forth through the entire circuit of the cerebrum; for fibers
drawn from the whole circuit of the brain, and concentrated
in a firm base, cast themselves upon the optic thalami, and,
if sensations follow their flux, they can terminate only in the
entire surface of the cerebrum. The olfactory nerves, con
tinued from the pituitary membrane, so immerse themselves
in the centrum ovale or medullary sphere of the cerebrum
that they derive their origins from all its parts; for when
inflated, the mammillary processes expand the whole of the
cerebral medulla. The acoustic or auditory nerves, emerg
ing from the annular protuberance, associate themselves with
all the fibers sent out from the cerebrum and cerebellum.
And so also with the other nerves. Therefore, the rationale
of sensations is the same as that of modifications, in that the
latter, commencing in a least center, diffuse themselves round
about into the whole periphery. From this it follows that
there is no part of the cortex that does not share in the sensa
tion that comes to it, and become conscious thereof.
19. That the most distinct sensation, especially visual sen
sation, perception, and intellection, exists in the crown of the
cerebrum. Wherever the cortical substances are most utterly
distinct and most greatly expanded, there sensations must be
more perfect and more distinct; for the reason why it is the
cerebrum that sensates, perceives, and understands, and not
the cerebellum, is because [in the cerebrum] the cortical
glands, being so many little internal sensories, are in a state
to perceive modes distinctly. In the two bosses of the cere
brum, that is to say, in its crown or its supreme lobe, the cortex
is divided with the utmost distinctness; for its mass is distin
guished by an infinitude of chinks and furrows, and by means
of these, the cortex can be expanded and tensed in accordance
with every mode. Thus, where the distinction is more perfect,
the sensation also is more perfect. This is the reason why all
the convolutions and windings of the cortex concentrate there,
[that is, in the supreme lobe], or proceed thither in continuous
flux and connection. It is also observed that in our intuitions,
16
30. SENSATION OR THE PASSION OF THE BODY 19-20
both external and internal, we direct our contemplations to this
prow of the cerebrum, and when this is injured, the faculty of
acutely seeing and perceiving wavers according to the degree
of the injury-as is evident from the several diseases of the
head. Thus, while sensation does indeed belong to each cor
tical gland, yet it is more perfect in one part of the cerebrum
than in another; for in one part it is more individual and par
ticular according to the divisions there existing, while in an
other it is more general and, consequently, more indistinct and
obscure, as is the case in the outermost borders of the cere
brum and in the cerebellum.
20. That no cortica~ g~and in the entire cerebrum is abso
~ute~y ~ike any other; nor, consequent~y, any ~ittle sensory,
the sensories being as many in number as are the cortica~
g~nds; but that among them is a certain variety which yet
is so harmonious that there is not the ~east difference in the
mode of any sensation that is not perceived more perfectly
in one g~and than in another. That cortical glands, which are
so many internal sensories, undergo an infinitude of changes
of state, both essential and accidental, has been sufficiently
demonstrated, and more than sufficiently, in the Transac
tion on those glands. 3 For there are large glands and small;
hard glands and soft; glands consisting of many fibers,
and of fewer; glands whose state is more or less con
stricted or expanded; glands that are associated with many
others or with few. But to enumerate all the differences
would be far too prolix. The cortical glands in the cerebrum
are of one kind, and those in the cerebellum of another; and
of still another are the glands in the medullas oblongata and
spinalis. Moreover, they differ in kind in the cerebrum itself,
in its crown and its borders, on the outside near the pia mater,
and within around the ventricles. All the internal cortical
glands are beginnings of fibers, and are internal sensories
and motories. To the end that the cerebrum may be open to
all sensations, and may sensate every difference [between
• The reference is to volume II tical Gland, and also, and perhaps
of the Economv 0/ the Animal more specifically, to the work on
Kingdom, chap. 2, On the Cor- The Fibre, n. 71 seq.
17
31. 20-21 RATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY
them], there is need of order among its sensories. This order
must be wholly harmonious; that is to say, it must be such
that one gland seizes upon a purer mode, and another a grosser,
and yet together with all the others as a part in a whole,
contributes the token of its own sensation. This is called
harmonious variety, and it is so much a property of nature
that it may rightly be called nature's nature. Such is the
variety in the several fibers, in the several muscles, in the
several parts of the atmosphere; for the lowest atmospheres
are in like manner more compressed than the higher, though
in such way that among all there is an harmonic variety. It
is thus that particulars contribute their share to the general
and public welfare.
21. That the diffused sensations should be conceived of as
winding through the whole cerebrum in a spiral manner, as
it were, or in accordance with the form of the winding of the
convolutions, or of the cortical substances; and purer sensa
tions as winding through the cortical gland in a vortical man
ner, consequently, in accordance with the substantial form
of the sensory organ itself. The fluxion of the convolutions
of the cortical glands in the cerebrum is into the form of a
most perfect spiral. And since sensations touch every point
of the cerebrum, that is, the whole of its fiber and the whole
of its cortex, the circumvolution and whirling of sensations
must be conceived of as being in a like form; for then their
fluxion and their propagation from the part to the whole be
comes easy. The same is the case with the modification in
each individual cortical gland, whose form is perpetuo-spiral
or vortical. The flux ion and determination of every active
force impressed on an organic substance is in most exact ac
cordance with the form of that substance, for to flow other
wise would be to flow against the stream and current of the
nature of the substance, that is to say, against its polar rota
tion. By a like form does sensation gyrate when coursing
through its fiber, and, therefore, by a like form when it emerges
therefrom. Moreover, the form of the fluxion and that of
the atmosphere or of its modifications is the same. Thus
the macrocosm and microcosm mutually correspond to each
18
32. SENSATION OR THE PASSION OF THE BODY 21-22
other, and they produce similar modes in the one case as
in the other. Moreover, in the external organs, a whirling
of this kind is plainly evident when the mind is intoxicated,
or the cerebrum affected by some like disease or by delirium.
From the above it is clear, by what winding and by what
gyration inmost sensation is effected, that is to say, intellec
tion whose form of fluxion is celestial; and so on.
22. That we perceive the harmonies and disharmonies of
sensation, of ourselves and naturally. That the soul naturally
apprehends and is conscious of every harmonic and disharmonic
that occurs in any of the senses, is clear from the phenomena
of each sense. Harmony of touch on the outer skin tickles
and arouses laughter. Harmony of taste and smell is so
soothing and complaisant to the organs thereof that it creates
enjoyment, sweet pleasure and appetite. Harmony of hear
ing is so pleasing to the ear that it at once gives favor to
the spoken words. So likewise with the harmony of sight
from which come beauty, comeliness and delights. Dishar
monies, on the other hand, produce the opposite effect; for
they sadden the animus and mind, and introduce a sort of
horror, nay, and actual injury, whence come loathings. More
over, under the rule of nature, a like consensus of truths,
which are so many harmonies, shows itself without the teach
ing of science and art. Hence it follows that, those who
have a more rational mind and who are imbued with some
knowledge, at once apprehend natural truths and give them
their approval. The fact that some men attack truths, is the
result of a vitiated state of mind. That the soul perceives
the harmonies and disharmonies of images and ideas at their
first impact, is manifestly apparent in the case of brute ani
mals. Birds know of themselves how to build their nests in
ingenious fashion, to choose the food that is most suitable
for them, and to be averse to all other foods. The spider
knows how to weave a web that is geometrically perfect. Not
to mention many other phenomena which are the results of
a natural perception of harmonies. Yea, not only are the
organs soothed by all that is harmonious and pleasing, but
they are also restored; while by all that is inharmonious, they
19
33. 22-24 RATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY
are harmed. The reason is because the soul is pure intelli
gence and is the order and truth of her microcosm. Therefore
the knowledge of order and truth is connate with us and is
rarely learned. Otherwise there could be no sensation. For
the existence of sensation demands that the harmonic shall
be mingled with things disharmonic, sensation arising from
their difference in connection and situation. Thus, from the
mingling of truths, fallacies and falsities comes reasoning,
thought, discussion, controversies and opinions, without which
there would be little conversation, no schools of thought, nor
any sciences, and the shelves of our libraries would be empty.
23. That the last of sensation and the first of action are
concurrent in the same inmost sensory organ. The cortical
gland is the last goal where sensations terminate, and the
first starting point whence actions go forth, for both the
sensory and the motory fibers begin and end in these glands.
Sensations penetrate from outmost things to inmost, while
actions run out from inmost things to outmost. The cortical
gland is thus both an internal sensory and an internal motory,
and is both active and passive, as are all the more perfect or
ganic substances; for the ability to be passive and active in
equal degree is the perfection of nature's entities, whence
come elasticity, and forces, and the powers resulting there
from. Superior forms receive every impinging force, and give
back a like force. To make a comparison with the sensories
mentioned above, the sensation in question is a passion to
which a like action corresponds; in other words, that which
sensates, determines into act, that is to say, by action it rep
resents the idea of its perception, action being a representa
tion of the actual idea of the mind. This is the reason why
a perceived idea breaks forth so quickly into an act, as, for
instance, into speech. It would be otherwise if the two were
not concurrent in one and the same organ.
24. That intellection, which is the last of sensations, does
not at once turn into will, which is the first of actions; but
that some thought and judgment intervenes. Thus there are
intermediate operations of the mind connecting the last of
20
34. SENSATION OR THE PASSION OF THE BODY 24-25
the one with the first of the other. 4 To the end that intellec
tion may pass over into will, there is a progressive series or
gyre, that is to say, there is an intervening thought, which
is a further turning of the things perceived and understood,
and a calling forth of like things from the storehouse of the
memory. The act of judging, that is, judgment, on the other
hand, is a reduction of the things thought into some rational
form, after casting out such things as in no way contribute
to the matter in hand. Then comes the conclusion, and so
the will is formed. Intellection is the first part of the opera
tions of the intellect, thought is the second part, the act of
judging the third, and the conclusion the fourth; and all these
taken together are designated by the general term intellect.
This gyre, however, is most frequently run through with such
presence of mind and such rapidity, being sometimes run
through in a moment, that it scarcely appears that there are
so many intermediate parts between the first rational per
ception and the beginnings of actions. I doubt not but that
there is a like series of operations in all substances that are
endowed with perfect elasticity, so that a comparison can be
instituted; that is to say, that the elater 5 of nature, when she
suffers a force or impulse, resolves itself into like action, and
restores itself by like intermediate operations, though this
seems to be accomplished in a moment and, as it were, in
stantly. But here is not the place to enlarge further on the
subject.
25. That in our mind there is such a nexus between ra
tional perception or intellection on the one hand, and will or
the beginning of action on the other, that is to say, between
'[Crossed off:] This is the gyre judgment. For the will must be
of the operations of the human formed, to the end that the com
mind; for mere perception does pound action of the body may
not form a will but furnishes the correspond to it; otherwise
occasion and sounds the first sig • Elater, derived from a Greek
nal, enabling the mind to act ra word meaning to drive, driveout,
tionally according to its power, expel, is used by Swedenborgin
that is to say, to put forth like its old English meaning, to denote
ideas from the storehouse of its the property of elasticity or re
memory, and to acquire a form of action.
21
35. 25 RATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY
passion and action, that as the one is, such also is the other.
In other words, that the mind deprived of perception is de
prived also of will. The mind's perception can be compared
to passion, and its will to action. Consequently, the perfect
mind can be compared to a perfect elater in nature. For the
faculty of an elater is: that the more a body is compressed,
the greater is the elastic force j that the elater is equal to
the compressing force; that the force of an elastic body is
determined by the action of the compressing body; that the
elater, liberated from the compressing force, is at once re
stored to its former state; that a body, possessing perfect
elastic force, suffers no loss of its own force, howsoever com
pressed, but pays back every compressing force--and, indeed,
acts upon the neighboring parts in the same measure that
it is acted upon, so that a like force and a like attack is
diffused into its border, and from there into the neighboring
parts thereof, and so into the whole vicinity; that in a col
lision of elastic bodies, the center of gravity, when moved,
moves with the same speed after the collision as before it,
so that in a collision of elastic bodies, the state of the center
of gravity is preserved; and also many other properties which
can be compared to this organic substance and its rational
operation, and, by means of correspondences, can be made
plain to the comprehension of the intelligent. But to resume:
That the will is such as is the perception or intellection is
evident from the phenomena, that is to say, from the affec
tions of the mind, the animus or the cerebrum. For in chil
dren and adults, the will increases with perception. When
the one is lost, the other also is lost, inasmuch as they come
together in one and the same organ. When the cerebrum is
injured, crammed with heterogeneous matters, and thrown
into disorder, then, according to the degree of the injury, it
is not only sensation that wavers but also action, as seen in
cases of loss of memory, catalepsy, carus,6 and sleep, and in
other cases. The reason is because nothing can be brought
• Carns, an unnatural sleep from ened. See the Author's Fibre
which the patient cannot be wak n. 433.
22
36. SENSATION OR THE PASSION OF THE BODY 25-28
into the will 'save what comes from perception; for the will
is that final clause of the thoughts wherein is the force of
acting harmoniously with the ideas of the thoughts.
26. That the first perception cannot be transferred into
thought, and still less into will, without the presence of some
force which incites and promotes it,. and that, without an
inciting and promoting force, the perception is at once extin
guished, and with the perception the will likewise, the two
going hand in hand. That the first perception is a mere inner
sensation, or is a mere passion, is clearly evident both from a
description of this perception and from reflection. For the
fact, that images of sight pass through the eyes and the fibers
of the nerve thereof to the common sensory or to some internal
sensation, follows as a consequence when the eyes are open;
so also in case of sound and its modulations in the ear, of
taste in the tongue, of smell in the nostrils, and of touch in
the body. But if this perception is to become an inner sensa
tion, and also a rational sensation which is called intellection,
it must pass over into thought, and from this in order into
will; and this cannot be done without some accessory and
stimulating force. As to what these forces are, which are
here added, this I shall now relate.
27. That the first force is harmony and the pleasantness
and sweetness flowing therefrom. This is perceived in the ex
ternal and internal sensory organs at the first impulse of an
object, and it so affects the animus and mind, and so vivifies
the perception, that the latter cannot rest but must continue
into the will. This is clear in itself; for what is beautiful
and lovely at once affects the eye or the internal sight with
a certain latent delight. So likewise with the harmony of
sounds, and also the sweetness of taste and of odor, and the
soothing charms of touch. At these the mind at once feels
a pleasure, and therefore its perception does not rest quiescent
but becomes active and calls forth similar ideas from the
storehouse of the memory. Hence comes thought, and this
is followed by will.
28. That the second force is the love of self-preservation,
that is to say, the love of self. Th1',s enkindles the internal
23
37. 28-29 RATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY
sensations, or arouses the first of perception even to its ulti
mate extreme, that is, even to the beginning of action; and
that without the occasion of such a force, our intellect is de
prived of its life, or languishes away. If we more closely
examine those natural harmonies which are first perceived in
the sensory organs of the body, it will become clear that they
are so many forces for the preservation of one's body; for,
not only do they soothe the senses, but they also restore
whatsoever therein has failed. This can be demonstrated
from innumerable phenomena. Harmonies refresh the ani
mus; the greenness of spring and the variety of colors in the
meadows restore the sight inasmuch as they exhilarate the
animus. So symmetries restore the hearing. On the other
hand, their opposites do harm and bring injury, which is the
reason why their presence brings pain to the body and sad
ness to the animus. From this it follows that within natural
harmonies, as contributing to the preservation of the body,
is some impelling and active force. The love of self is the
beginning of all the loves of the soul, the desires of the mind,
and the cupidities of the body, and from it, as from their
fount, spring all desires of ends. Our different loves are there
force like streams from this fountain, which are brought into
being by our several perceptions; that is to say, they are so
many forces, lives or heats, which vivify the operations of
the mind and arouse it to action. This is the reason why
each individual is efficient in his own loves and desires, and
each lives his own life; and why those who are devoid of such
loves and desires are also stupid in genius and dull, and are
mere stocks, endowed with a cold and sluggish spirit and blood.
29. That from these loves are born desires for some end,
and these desires are active forces within the intellect and
will. There is no intellect or rational perception and con
sequently, no thought and judgment, still less any will, which
goes pari passu with perception, unless there be some end in
view, and a desire therefor. Without this, that is to say,
without an end, the will can never be determined into act.
Therefore, for the existence of will, there must be within it
an end which the mind contemplates. But ends are superior
24
38. SENSATION OR THE PASSION OF THE BODY 29-30
and inferior. The superior belong to the human mind alone
and look, not merely to the preservation of the body and of
self, but to the preservation of that kind of society of which
it is a part, and also to many other ends. Instead of rational
ends, beasts have corporeal ends, the desires whereof are
called cupidities and pleasures, being ends solely for the pres
ervation of themselves, that is, of their own body. And
since these ends do not descend from any rational fount and
from a principle of reason, they prefer the preservation of
self to the preservation of society as a whole. But these mat
ters will be treated of when we come to speak of the animus
and the mind. 7
30. That in the human race there is nothing connate save
the perception of the order and harmonies and truths, in the
7 [The following unnumbered eminent mechanics indeed, if we
chapter is here crossed off by the are to construct nests as birds do.
Author:] Yet, if the mind has not been per
That we must be instructed by verted, there seem to be latent
the external or corporeal senses as within us the seeds of virtues and
to the nature of the inferior world; a natural assent to truths. At the
and unless instructed, we can have same time, there are many things
no idea of that world or of its which can add thereto, in that ideas
parts. During many past ages it are connate with us also. But an
has been a matter of controversy idea is one thing, and the form of
whether ideas are connate with us, the idea and the order and harmony
or whether they are all acquired. of many ideas among each other, is
They who declare for connate another. Ideas must be learned,
ideas, confirm their opinion with but not so their mutual connec
many examples; for brute ani tion and order. Consequently, we
mals have connate love or con must learn concerning the nature
nate ideas. In chicks and other of the interior world by means of
animals, these manifest themselves our senses. Images are so many
from their first hatching out; for parts of the visible world which
perceptions and also actions, the in interior sensation are called
two being mutually correspondent, ideas. These must be taken in by
are at once urgent, and the sev the gates of the senses, and must
eral organs of the body stand by. be fixed in the memory, to the end
Not so in the human race, for we that they may be drawn upon
must be instructed in all those sci whenever the mind comes to the
ences in which brute animals are forming of some analysis.
proficient by nature. We must be
25
39. 30 RATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY
forms and substances, the forces and modes, by which the
rational mind is affect-ed, in that they concern the preserva
tion of self. All else, to wit, forms, substances, forces, modes,
and truths must be learned by the ministry of the senses;
hence instruction and the various arts. This is not the case
with brute animals. It was shown above [no 27] that har
monies are connate in us, that is to say, we perceive them
without a teacher; as, for instance, the sweetness of taste and
smell, the consonance of sounds, the beauties and charms
of nature, in a word, the order of things, or the harmony
of modes, forces, substances and forms. Consequently, we
perceive also the truths of things, seeing that these correspond
to order in nature. This, moreover, is the reason why order
is called transcendental truth. We clearly perceive this in
our own intellect, for we seize upon truths without demon
stration as though they were naked. Hence, in some men
the seeds of virtues and of honor are said to lie within, or to
be connate. But form is one thing, and the perfectionS of
form another. Form must needs be acquired scientifically
and experimentally by way of the senses or of instruction,
but not so the harmony and order of the determinations in
the form. The harmony and order are natural inasmuch as
they accord with the very form of our organic substances and
of their sensations and perceptions, and are so caressing that
they soothe and titillate them and affect them gratefully; but
the form resulting therefrom must be acquired-which is the
reason why it has been a matter of dispute among the learned,
as to whether ideas are connate in us, or whether they are
all acquired. This, moreover, is confirmed by reflection on
our own thought, imagination, and speech. For the existence
of thought and speech, there must be present an infinitude
of things which concern merely the order thereof. This order
is so strictly observed and put forward by a child that the
entire peripatetic and Pythagorian School, even in a decennial
of years, would not be able to reduce to rules and scientific
forms what that child expresses of himself in a moment
• This seems to be a lapsus pennae for perception.
26
40. SENSATION OR THE PASSION OF THE BODY 30--31
and this naturally. Moreover, we smile upon truths as soon
as they are uttered and without any demonstration a poster
iori, in that, within them there is a natural harmony, and
this affects the mind gratefully. In addition to implanted
harmonies, order, and truth, loves also are implanted, all
springing from the love of self. But when they spring from
this fount, they know not whence they flow or what their
nature, save by means of doctrines. Not so in brute ani
mals. With them there is still more that is connate, to wit,
particular ideas, that is to say, forms and modifications, etc.;
for they are born into their sensations, perceptions, and wills,
and these several properties are at hand as soon as they are
excluded from the womb or egg.
31. That the external senses are blunt, gross, and dull, and
consequently, are fallacious, so that, in the case of innumer
able phenomena, they deceive the internal senses themselves,
and these seize upon things that appear to be truths as though
they were so many truths; for those senses do not penetrate
into the causes and beginnings of things. Therefore, knowl
edge derived from the senses is purely animal knowledge and
not rational and truly human. It is indeed a fact that no
other way of knowing and understanding is granted us save
by means of sensations or experience, that is, by the posterior
way which is called the analytic. For first our sensations are
perfected; then our internal perceptions, and finally our in
tellect. Judgment, that is to say, the knowledges of a true
end, does not come till later and in a more adult age. This
being the natural way and the only way that is granted, it
is necessary that we devote ourselves to the observing of ex
periments and natural phenomena, and to the gathering of
them together. Thus the science of optics is indeed utterly
familiar to the organism of the eye, yet it has no perception
of any rules except from a knowledge derived from trained
experience. So with the science of acoustics in respect to
the ear. As regards truths themselves, being the causes and
principles of natural things, nay, and also of moral, although
we may be pleased with them when they present themselves,
yet we have no deeper knowledge of them than we have of the
27
41. 31 RATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY
beauty of a flower when seen with its charming mixture of
colors and the symmetry of its parts. Of ourselves, we see
in the flower and rose nothing except beauty, order, and
truth; but as to its form, what color is, what the situation
of the parts, and what their connection, this it is granted us
to search into only by the experience of the senses. For the
soul, which alone understands the things presented to the
senses, is order itself and law and truth. Therefore, all that
accords with her reason, she views with favoring smiles, but
for all else she has only aversion and abhorrence.
That there is an infinitude of things appearing before the
senses and feigning to be what they are not, can be shown
merely by examples; as, for instance, that the sun, stars, and
planets are tiny bodies and not earths as large as ours; that
we remain absolutely motionless, although our terraqueous
world rotates and is carried around the sun-just as in a ship
where we ourselves seem to be at rest, even though, with the
ship under full sail, we may be carried some miles from port
within an hour; that it does not seem possible that the anti
podeans can stand on their feet; that the blood has no circu
lation, the brain no animation, the stomach [no] peristoltic
motion. [It is opposed to the senses] that fibers of the ut
most delicacy are traversed by a fluid with the utmost veloc
ity; that the atmospheres are divided into parts, for they seem
either to be continuous like water or to be non-existent. [It
appears to the senses] that there is an attraction, a vacuum,
a single atmosphere; that a ray of light is an atom; that it
is a substance; that a swiftly moving body is continuous; that
providence, fate, fortune are fortuitous chances; that insanity
is wisdom, falsity truth, propriety and impropriety honor,
vice virtue, license free decision, the pleasures and blandish
ments of the senses the greatest felicity or the summum bon
um; that art seems more ingenious than nature; that philoso
phers possess better common sense; that they are wise who
speak with elegance, are skilled in languages, and besprinkle
their speech with pointed witticisms; or who remain silent;
or, who give out half the meaning on matters that are to be
understood; that we hold in esteem those who are esteemed
28
42. SENSATION OR THE PASSION OF THE BODY 31-32
by other men whom we credit with skin in judgment. An
infinitude of other things presents itself in connection with
the investigation of what is true and false, good and evil,
beautiful and [in] decorous. .When distinctions are concealed,
as not appearing before the senses, and the figure is somewhat
rough and uneven, we think them to be non-existent, even
though they be infinite. So in other matters.
From the above we can conclude that if we put OUT trust
in the senses alone, we are not rational but rather are ani
mals; for, granting fallacious vision and appearances, brute
animals are easily entrapped. Therefore, the more rational
we are, or the more we are men, the more do we cut asunder
the shades and fallacies of the senses, and keenly penetrate
to truths themselves; that is to say, the more do we enter into
the causes and principles of things and put away faith in our
body, that is, withdraw ourselves from the shades of sensa
tions. Therefore, it is not human to be wise merely from the
senses and experience.
32. That the soul concurs with every sensation, percep
tion, and intellection, but so sublimely, universally, and se
cretly that we scarcely know what flows from the soul and
what from the body. Sensations are what inform our mind,
enabling it to be called rational; for without the experience
of the senses, we can understand nothing whatever. Our
ability to understand, that is to say, the power and faculty
of understanding and of reducing particular ideas into their
proper order, is due, not to the body or to the organs of the
external senses, but to the soul. The soul can be compared
to the light which surrounds the eye. Without light, there
is no discerning what is less luminous, and what is shady, or
any difference between objects whence arise species and colors.
Thus it is the soul that pOUTS in a certain light enabling truths
to be seen as truths, while sensations add certain dubious phe
nomena which, as it were, becloud truths. Hence come ideas
and truths mingled with falses, whence arise opinions, hypoth
eses, conjectures, disputes, conversations, and speech. Were
naked truths to shine forth, there would be no reason and reason
ing, for none would fail to admit what was said by another,
29
43. 32-33 RATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY
and to perceive and think the same as that other. The state
would be one of utmost integrity, like that of souls whose
speech is directed solely to the praise and glory of their deity.
Therefore, for the existence of a society of bodies, it is nec
essary that our intelligence be a mingled intelligence, and
not a pure. But of this we shall speak more fully when treat
ing of the pure intellect.
33. The causes, both internal and external, of sensations
are derived universally from the fact that the soul is conscious
of all that is accordant and discordant with herself, and of
all that soothes or benefits her body, and of all that vexes or
injures it; the former gives her pleasure, the latter, displeas
ure; with the former she is gladdened, with the latter she feels
sadness. Thus all the senses flow from the cause of self
preservation, and the interior senses from the love of self.
The truth of the proposition is clear from an examination of
the phenomena of the several senses. Taste comes from the
phenomena that there are particles which are pungent, such
as saline, acid, urinous, and other pointed particles, and par
ticles which are soothing, such as sugary and sweet particles.
The former are injurious, the latter beneficial. From the
mingling of pointed and round particles arises bitterness, a
vinous sweetness and an infinitude of other tastes; hence such
great variety, The like ratio obtains in smell; for the sense
of smell apprehends the same differences, but of more subtle
particles, being those volatile particles that float in the at
mosphere. Hearing is a sense still more sublime; for it is
sensitive only to the harmonies and disharmonies of the mod
ulations of the air. Modulations that are natural and con
cordant are soothing, while those that are discordant, such
as disharmonies, are hurtful. So likewise with sight, the ob
jects of which are the modifications of the ether, being a
superior atmosphere. The latter senses approach more nearly
to the nature of the soul. They recede, as it were, from
things corporeal, and, as means and intermediaries, insinuate
themselves into things spiritual. It is the same with the in
ternal senses, such as perception and intellection; for all that
is accordant with their nature and the order thereof is pleas
30
44. SENSATION OR THE PASSION OF THE BODY 33-34
ing, while that which is discordant is displeasing. And be-
cause natures are not alike, the nature of one man never
being absolutely like that of another; and because, more-
over,' natures which in themselves are perfect, are easily per-
verted by the error and fallacies of the external senses; there-
fore it comes about, that what is pleasing to one is displeas-
ing to another. Universally, however, all the senses flow
from the cause of preserving one's state and one's own order;
for the soul has furnished her body with sensations that she
may be conscious of all that touches her ambit, to the end
that she may be informed with the utmost particularity con-
cerning a change in that state of her body which she studies
to preserve. But the internal senses flow from the love of
self, love being spiritual as is the soul herself. It is from
this cause that man is desirous of praise, glory, an enduring
name, happiness in the body and after the decease of the
body. It is by the love of these that he is led, and therefore
they are pleasing to his mind, that is, are inmostly grateful
and wonderfully soothing to his inmost sense.
34. The more perfect the forms, the more agreeable and
delightful they are to the senses, and the reverse. In taste
and smell, all angular forms are disagreeable and displeas-
ing unless the angles are so arranged as to represent some
more perfect form, and to arouse a sensation which the mind
judges to be suitable for restoring the state of its body, and
to be conformable therewith. This is the reason why saline
and bitter things are frequently pleasant, while sweet and
fragrant things are unpleasant. But more perfect forms, such
as the circular and spherical-these being the next superior
to the angular and consequently, more perfect--are natu-
rally pleasant because they are soothing, as, for instance,
things sweet and sugary. The forms affecting hearing are
chiefly circular, such being the forms of the modifications or
fluxions of the parts of the air. The more nearly these ap-
proach the circular form, the more they are harmonious and
agreeable. They are still more delightful as they approach
the perpetuo-circular or spiral form, which is the form of the
modifications of the ether or of sight; but the more they de-
31
45. 34-35 RATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY
part from these "harmonies, that is, the more they approach
the angular form so as to become, as it were, rough and
pointed, in a word, not round, the more disagreeable they
are to the ear. So "likewise with sight, for the more per
fectly spiral the forms of that sense or of its images are,
both in themselves and among themselves-light and shade
being thereby commingled-the more agreeable they are;
and they are most pleasing when they approach to the form
of the superior or interior sense, that is to say, to the perpetuo
spiral or vortical form. Then come the superior forms,
being the celestial and spiritual, wherein the several parts
are, as it were, perpetual, everything angular being cut away
and removed. Thus each organ has its own form, a form
which looks to the superior form and refers itself to the in
ferior; and in each form there are infinite changes of state,
and hence infinite varieties of sensation.
II
Touch
35. That touch is the ultimate and truly corporeal sense,
the innumerable organic substances whereof are scattered
throughout the whole skin and ambit of the body and, taken
together and as a whole, constitute the organ of touch. Under
the cuticle, within small folds, lie pyramidal molecular papil
lae as though in their beds, protected by epidermis, and in
such great number that they are scattered throughout the
whole cuticular ambit of the body, there not being a single
point which they do not occupy with some part of their sur
face, and which they do not fill UPl as it were, whenever
they apply themselves to the taking in of a sensation. For
they can be contracted and expanded and, consequently, can
withdraw themselves and put themselves forward, and so can
render the whole cuticle sensile together with themselves.
Thus the organ of touch is not a continuous organ but is
made up of an infinitude of organs. Everything continuous
is opposed to nature, for the more distinct nature is, and the
32
46. TOUCH 35-36
more individual in her products and compounds, the more
perfect she is. For nature lies hidden in her single minimal
parts, and she thrives, as it were, when left to herself, but
not in gathered masses wherein her order, form and har
mony perish.
36. That the perfection of the sensation of touch depends
on the quantity, qua~ity, situation, and connection of these
organs, that is, on the particu~ar form of each, and on the
genera~ form of aU as among themsdves; and, ~ike the per
fection of the cortica~ g~ands, to which these organs of the
body correspond, it depends a~so on a certain variety, so that
no one organ is abso~ute~y ~ike another. The papillae, that
is to say, these organic substances of touch, are very soft and
are adaptable to every tactile force. As soon as anything
hurtful and injurious touches and assails them, they with
draw within themselves, but when they are titillated and
soothed by round particles, they reach out. Hence they are
erected and relaxed in accordance with every quality of the
appulses. As regards their quantity, the more numerous they
are, the more minute are the distinctions and the more subtle
the differences which they distinguish. As regards their
qua~ity, the softer they are, the more adapted they are to
every tactile force and, consequently, the more sensible.
Their perfection, therefore, consists in their faculty of chang
ing their states, and of applying themselves to the forms of
assailing objects. This is the reason why they are assidu
ously moistened with a fine and quasi-medullary humor; and
they themselves are the glands from which are born corporeal
fibers, and which continually imbibe and transmit humor
from the circumfluent air. As regards their situation and
connection, that is, their particu~ar and genera~ form, the
more perfect they are in themselves, the more potent they are
for the producing or receiving of sensation. The bare potency
of the individual organic forms, however, does not produce
the effect, unless all the forms, each having within it the like
potency, conspire to one and the same effect; and that they
may so conspire, situation is required and mutual connec
tion and, consequently, an order among all the forms, and a
33
47. 36-37 RATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY
mutual respect, so that the one shall regard the other as an
associate form of the same sense. In this way the general
form is entirely concurrent with the particular form or the
form of each part. This is the reason why, in the place
where the sense is most· acute, as in the fingers and toes and
near the nails, the papillae lie in a spiral situation, just like
the sulci [of the cerebrum], and are not erect but stretch out
lengthways, that they may the more fittingly give mutual
aid to each other. As regards their variety, to wit, that no
one of them is exactly like another, this is apparent from
the difference of the touches, in that the mind is at once
sensitive to where the touch is, being sensitive in different
ways, to wit, more or less dully or acutely; the hollow of
the palm and sole sensates differently than the back and the
fingers; the tender side than the thorax; the neck than the
head. If the sense is to be utterly perfect, this variety must
be an harmonic variety, so that the variety of the one organic
form corresponds to the variety of the other, or an harmoni
ous communion results from the variety of the several parts
-as in the case of the cortical glands, of which we have al
ready treated [Fibre, n. 241].
37. That the organs of the sense of touch correspond to
their cortical glands in the medullas spinalis and oblongata,
and also to their cortical glands in the outer circumference of
the cerebrum. That the papillae, which are the organic sub
stances of touch, exactly correspond both to the cortical glands
of the medullas spinalis and oblongata and to those of the
cerebrum itself, is very evident from their anatomy when in
timately examined; for these papillae are nerve- or fiber-end
ings, twisted together into organic forms of this kind. That
countless fibers go to the cuticle in infinite number, and are
ramified therein, is especially evident from the bodies of in
fants; and since each fiber takes its origin from its own indi
vidual cortical gland in the meduIra spinalis or the medulla
oblongata, it must needs be that each papilla refers itself to
its own gland as to its parent. Every sensation advances
along the extension of its nerve or fiber, and strives toward
its origin. Consequently, it terminates only in that origin,
34